While Joss Whedon has a significant say on what happens in the Marvel Universe, he’s an outside observer when it comes to what DC Comics and Warner Bros. are doing with their movies. But Whedon is still a comic book fan and had to admit that he wants to see them succeed, too.

Last month, Whedon spoke at Nerd HQ at San Diego Comic-Con via FaceTime, since he’s still in London recovering from an injury. According to ComicBookMovie, during the event, Whedon did drop a few teases on Marvel Universe movies, but he did offer his thoughts on the DC Comics movie and had some advice for the makers of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Whedon said that he would tell DC and Warner Bros. to just keep doing what they have done. Clearly, they like their comic book movies to be dark, while Marvel embraces a lighter, more humorous touch.

“I think that both studios have kind of different agendas, different ways of approaching the superhero genre, and the ethos of the thing, and the esthetic,” Whedon said. “They go very dark and serious and sometimes it works amazingly, and Marvel tends to be a little lighter.”

He continued by saying that he wouldn’t want DC to mimic Marvel and vice versa.

“I like what they do when they get it right,” he explained. “When you get a Heath Ledger [performance], and Batman Begins, and those things that really grip you. That's something nobody else is doing, and I like it. I want them to do what they're doing."

(However, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy isn't part of the DC's new cinematic universe. Man of Steel was super serious though, so Whedon is right to think that the dark tone is continuing in the new movies.)

Obviously, Whedon knows a thing or two about making a successful comic book movie, since his Avengers grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide. The sequel, Age of Ultron, opens on May 1, 2015. Dawn of Justice opens in May 2016.